With its two-in-one DVD of the
2002 Flèche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege races, World Cycling Productions
again produces a perfect combination: these are two major one-day races held
within days of each other in the racing calendar.

Both races are commentated by
WCP's Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen, and run approximately an hour and
forty-five minutes each. This amount of coverage is perfect. While races like
the Tour of Flanders
and Paris-Roubaix
offer enough constant action to warrant their four-hour individual treatment,
both the Flèche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege concentrate their action in
the last two hours or so of the race, which is when the coverage kicks in.

Flèche Wallonne

The Flèche Wallonne is one of
the "semi-Classics": though it's not a World Cup race (riders don't
earn any points toward the World Cup standings), the race has a long and
distinguished history, with many great riders taking part. The 2002 Flèche
Wallonne takes place on a Wednesday, April 17, and the Liege-Bastogne-Liege
takes place on Sunday, just four days later. To make things more interesting, a
special prize is given to the rider with the most consistent placing in both
the Flèche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege. This creates an interesting
dynamic: on the one hand, the riders are eager to do well here to win the
"Ardennes weekend" prize, but Liege-Bastogne-Liege is the more prestigious
race, so some riders will be conserving their energy for a stronger bid on the
later race.

The route for the Flèche
Wallonne is an interesting one, characterized by hills scattered
over the course rather than by just a few major climbs. This gives the racers many
opportunities to break away, while not being tough enough to really shatter the
peloton. The most dramatic part of the Flèche Wallonne is its steep uphill
finish, which offers a substantial challenge and means that the finish won't come
down to a pure bunch sprint. The race can be won and it can also be lost on
that steep ascent to the finish line.

The 2002 Flèche Wallonne has to
go down on the record books as one of the most memorable editions of this race
in years. The typical way that the Flèche Wallonne unfolds is for a small group
to break away partway through the race, with the main peloton chasing, and for
the race to be decided from amongst the riders in the small group. Well, that's
certainly not what happens in 2002... though not for want of trying. This is
one of the most aggressively-ridden races in years, but the results are
entirely unexpected. The two hours of coverage provided in this DVD offer a
great view of all the important moments in the race, including the very exciting
finale.

Liege-Bastogne-Liege

Liege-Bastogne-Liege holds
honors as cycling's oldest Classic, at 111 years old, and it's traditionally
very hotly contested. Winning this race is a great prize in its own right, in
addition to the fact that as a World Cup race, a high placing here means points
toward taking the top of the ranks in the prestigious World Cup competition. In
fact, the pressure of the World Cup ranking means that even riders who don't
find the course congenial often feel compelled to compete, such as Domo's Johan
Museeuw: as the current World Cup holder, he appears here to work to retain his
title, even though his personal preferences is for races like the cobbled
Paris-Roubaix. Domo's main contender for victory in fact, though, is probably Axel
Merckx, the son of the legendary Eddy Merckx.

The blue jerseys of U.S. Postal
make an appearance here in force, as Lance Armstrong is out to take a victory
after two second places in past editions. While he rode in the Tour of Flanders
earlier in the season, in that race he was solely acting as a support rider for
teammate George Hincapie, the team's favorite to win. In Liege-Bastogne-Liege,
Armstrong returns to his role as leader in a bid to win. Riding for Fassa
Bortolo, two-time winner Michele Bartoli will be eyeing victory as well, though
his high placing in the Flèche Wallonne could have tired him out. And let's not
forget powerhouse team Mapei, whose squad includes world champion Oscar Freire
and past winner Paolo Bettini.

What makes Liege-Bastogne-Liege
exciting is its climbs: eleven of them. What's more, these are long climbs,
often continuing upward for several kilometers, entirely unlike the steep but
very short hills of the Tour of Flanders. Consequently, a different type of
rider may be in his element at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, and certainly different
tactics are in order.

The 2002 edition of
Liege-Bastogne-Liege has a relatively uneventful first forty-five minutes or
so, but the action starts in earnest when the riders get to the major climb of La
Redoute. Attacks and counter-attacks then start blowing the race apart, with a
six-man breakaway having a good shot at victory if they can stay away from the
attempts of the main peloton to chase them back. With two Saeco riders as well
as two strong Mapei riders, Paolo Bettini and Stefano Garzelli, team tactics
are sure to play an important part in the outcome of the race... and as it
turns out, the victory hinges on an impressive and completely unexpected team
strategy. The conclusion of the 2002 Liege-Bastogne-Liege is certainly an
exciting and memorable one.

The DVD

The 2002 Flèche Wallonne and
Liege-Bastogne-Liege is a Region 0 DVD, playable on any NTSC-compatible DVD
player and TV. In fact, all of World Cycling Productions' DVDs are Region 0,
which is very appropriate given the international scope of the sport of
cycling.

Video

The video for the Flèche
Wallonne looks a little washed-out in the early portions of the race, in both
the helicopter and motorcycle-held camera footage. Colors are a bit faded and
not quite natural-looking. Fortunately, the problem clears up about midway
through the race, and by the end, the riders' colorful jerseys are looking the
way they should. In the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race, again some of the colors are
slightly faded, but in this case it seems to only occur with some of the
cameras, not all of them; the helicopter camera, for instance, seems to present
natural, bright colors.

As with the Flèche Wallonne
coverage, the colors of Liege-Bastogne-Liege return to their normal vibrancy
toward the last kilometers of the race. I suspect that the slightly faded look
is due to issues with the original transmission of the television image, not
the DVD transfer. These races are filmed "on the spot" and in
sometimes tricky conditions, and it's normal to see greater variations in image
than in a film that's done under controlled conditions.

The image for both races is
extremely clean, with no noise whatsoever in the picture, and a nice amount of
detail is present. The races are presented in the original 1.33:1 aspect ratio
of their television broadcast. All in all, the image looks very good, and will
certainly impress viewers who are used to seeing the races on VHS.

Audio

As is the case with WCP's other
DVDs, the audio quality here is excellent. The soundtrack is a "live"
one, presenting the commentary from Liggett and Sherwen along with the ambient
sounds of the race, and no music, resulting in an audio experience that makes
it seem that you're really watching it live. The sound is crisp and clean, with
both the commentators' voices always natural-sounding and entirely
understandable. The environmental sounds of the race, such as the motorcycles,
the shouting crowds, and the humming wheels of the bicycles, are included
enough to add a nice flavor, but never overpower the commentary.

Extras

Each of the two races has its
own DVD, and both discs are neatly packaged in an attractive single-wide case.
The menus are easy to use... except for the fact that the winner of the race is
prominently displayed in the background, which is frustrating to viewers who
like a little suspense while watching the races. There are no special features
on the DVDs.

Final thoughts

The 2002 Flèche Wallonne and
Liege-Bastogne-Liege DVD from World Cycling Productions offers two great
classic cycling races in one exciting package. The nearly two hours of coverage
on each race is the perfect amount for these races, and the races themselves
are great fun to watch. The 2002 Flèche Wallonne turns out to be an unusually
aggressive race, with constant attacks and a great deal of tension. After a
slower start, the Liege-Bastogne-Liege turns out to be a gripping race as well,
with tactical maneuvering and outstanding team tactics coming into play. It's
highly recommended.